1927 World Series
In the 1927 World Series, the New York Yankees swept the Pittsburgh Pirates in four games. This was the first sweep of a National League team by an American League team. Babe Ruth hit the only 2 home runs in the Series by either by either team. Lou Gehrig had 2 triples (thrown out once trying for inside-park-home run). The 1927 New York Yankees led the American League in runs scored, hits, triples, home runs, base on balls, batting average, slugging average and on base percentage. The 1927 Pittsburgh Pirates led the National League in runs, hits, batting average and on base percentage. When comparing the two together, the Pirates only led in hits. The "Murderers' Row" Yankees, who won a then-league record 110 games (110-44) during the regular season, reportedly took a show-off batting practice before Game 1 in which they purposely rocketed as many as they could into the seats. Whether true or legend (this was standard procedure for Ruth in any case), the Yankees had little trouble dispatching the Pirates, who did not see another Series for 33 years. Game 4 was close the entire game, and remained tied at three going into the ninth inning. Pittsburgh manager, Donie Bush, had turned to Carmen Hill, who had peaked in 1927 as the ace of his pitching staff. Hill had never won more than three games, but in 1927 he chalked up twenty-two. New York's Miller Huggins went with Wilcy Moore, a promising rookie who had made only twelve starts in his fifty appearances. Both had planned to go the distance, but the mental fatigue was starting to take its toll. Pittsburgh's John Miljus came in as relief in the seventh inning and looked strong until the ninth. Earle Combs walked and Mark Koenig beat out a bunt to advance the runner. In a daring move, Ruth was walked intentionally, filling the bases with no outs and Lou Gehrig coming up next. Miljus managed to strike out the next two batters, but threw a disastrous wild pitch to Tony Lazzeri, scoring Combs and ending the game. The Yankees had won their second championship title and the crowning achievement to a magnificent season. The Yankees repeated as World Champions (sweeping the Cardinals) in 1928. (Only pre-1927 World Series win for Yankees was in 1923 vs. New York Giants). Summary AL New York Yankees (4) vs. NL Pittsburgh Pirates (0) Matchups Game 1 Wednesday, October 5, 1927 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Game 2 Thursday, October 6, 1927 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Game 3 Friday, October 7, 1927 at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York Game 4 Saturday, October 8, 1927 at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York Composite box 1927 World Series (4–0): New York Yankees (A.L.) over Pittsburgh Pirates (N.L.) |}} Notes References *Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series. 1st ed. New York: St Martins, 1990. (Neft and Cohen 120–123) *Reichler, Joseph, ed. (1982). The Baseball Encyclopedia (5th ed.), p. 2135. MacMillian Publishing. ISBN 0-02-579010-2. * External links * 1927 World Series at Baseball-Reference.com * [http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/history/postseason/mlb_ws_recaps.jsp?feature=1927 1927 World Series at WorldSeries.com (MLB.com)] * 1927 World Series at Baseball-Almanac.com * 1927 World Series box scores and play-by-play at Retrosheet.org * Audio - Waite Hoyt's comments on the 1927 Yankees Category:World Series World Series Category:New York Yankees Category:Pittsburgh Pirates